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Hillsborough County Commissioner Mark Sharpe has been creating waves in recent weeks. Earlier this month, he declared in the pages of the Tampa Tribune that the Countyâs Transportation agency executive director, Lucie Ayres, needed to go.

A week ago, Ayres took the hint, leaving her $130,000 job at the countyâs Metropolitian Planning Organization. Yesterday, Sharpe came by the WMNF studios to talk about the future of mass transit in the region.

But first we asked about cynicism that he and others are truly committed to seeing this happen. Thatâs after the resignation earlier this month of Amy Maguire, the director of the Regional Planning Organization known as One Bay. Maguire stepped down because of her ties to south Hillsborough landowners planning a large-scale development and her employment by a powerful lobbying firm.

Stay tuned next week on the Evening News to hear from Sharpe's thoughts on bringing mass transit to the region.